Idiot: Self Portrait

During Henri Gaudier-Brzeska’s lifetime, this satirical self-portrait was exhibited as 'Portrait of a Jew', although popularly known as 'The Idiot', inspired by his partner’s constant use of the term. The highly expressive, contorted features echo the artist’s declared belief that ‘the modern sculptor is a man who works with instinct as his inspiring force. His work is emotional…what he feels he does so intensely and his work is nothing more nor less than the abstraction of this intense feeling.’